Trade Prince Gallywix is the leader of the Bilgewater Cartel, one of the most powerful goblin trade guilds on Kezan. Despite betraying his own people in an act of vengeance, he retains his position as Trade Prince of the Bilgewater Cartel in its service to the Horde. He is voiced by John DiMaggio.

Contents

Immediately prior to the Cataclysm, Gallywix was on the verge of losing his Trade Prince status due to player characters trying to take over. The players were appointed by Gallywix as second-in-command many years prior, but he later sensed the players were a threat. As luck would have it, he was the only one that owned a ship at Bilgewater Port at the time Deathwing triggered Mount Kajaro's eruption, and he seized upon the opportunity to take advantage of the populace. Charging an exorbitant amount of money, he happily took his people's life savings, offering them a ride to safety. His plan was to actually sell those into servitude that conspired against him. En route, the ship passed by a battle between the Alliance and Horde just off the coast of the Lost Isles. Rather than risk witnesses or additional attackers, the Alliance sank their vessel.[2]

Gallywix survived the destruction of his ship, utilizing one of his few escape pods. He was the first to be rescued, and offered a small thanks. He continued with his grand scheme of regaining power via various means, such as enslaving his fellow goblins and members of the Bilgewater Cartel to mine for kaja'mite in the Gallywix Labor Mine. His plans are foiled when the goblins escaped and teamed up with Thrall, whom they rescued from the Alliance. Gallywix, recognizing Thrall possessed much more power than he, decided to surrender and pledge his allegiance, and the Bilgewater Cartel, to the Horde. Gallywix promised the Warchief he would run the Cartel differently, and Thrall promised him the land in Azshara for the goblins' new home.

When the goblins used their engineering skills to carve out a district in Orgrimmar and reform the Azsharan landscape, Gallywix was strangely nowhere to be found. Later, he appeared in the Horde ending cinematic of Mists of Pandaria. When Vol'jin was proclaimed Warchief by Thrall, Gallywix and the other Horde leaders bowed before him.

This article or section includes speculation, observations or opinions possibly supported by lore or by Blizzard officials.*

Many people find it strange that Thrall appointed Gallywix as leader, given the story arc of the goblin starting experience. Even many of the Bilgewater goblins are portrayed as hating Gallywix and thinking of him as a traitor; ironically, they were planning on offing Gallywix before the eruption of Kezan. In a starting quest, one goblin even calls him a monster and expresses horror at the possibility of his survival. Some of Gallywix's more controversial actions can be found below, though there are notes that reflect how these same traits are shared by the players and other goblins, suggesting he may have merely been a more extreme representation of typical goblin culture:

Tried to sell some of his race and cartel into slavery after taking their life's savings.

Hates the players, frequently berates and threatens them, and swears vengeance against them. This is a reciprocal feeling, however.

Hired Southsea Freebooters to kill the player's party guests, who were trying to remove Gallywix and take his position.

After enslaving his own Cartel, hired the Steamwheedle Sharks to kill the player and the resisting members of the Bilgewater Cartel.

Went to war with the surviving Horde and Bilgewater Cartel resistance on the Lost Isles, using the Steamwheedle Sharks and Southsea Pirates as mercenaries; also brainwashed members of his own cartel for manual labor.

Attempted to murder the player and former Warchief Thrall.

The last is especially strange, though Thrall may have spared Gallywix and let him retain his leadership position for a number of reasons. The first is that Thrall is familiar with goblins and their culture; not only would he view Gallywix's attempt as "normal" to some extent, but would also have known that, once cowed, the goblin would not have attempted such an action again.

Another possibility is that he saw in Gallywix someone who would not mindlessly follow Garrosh. Gallywix could be counted on for one thing, and that was looking out for his own interests. Such a wild card could either upset Garrosh's plans or, at the very least, provide Thrall with an insider who owed him a debt of gratitude.

"Good. The last thing we need is another big gun floating around," Gallywix said. "Get it outta here."

"And that's it?" The words were in the air before Ziya realized she had spoken them.

Gallywix regarded her. She could see the gears turning in his head.

"What did you expect, Sergeant?" he said.

"I expected you to use it!" Ziya growled. "It's what you do. You use things. You're a monster!"

To her surprise, Gallywix nodded.

"Yeah, I am," he said. "But not that kind."

"You're exactly that kind!"

"No," Gallywix said. "We ain't ever met face to face, Sergeant, so let me explain. I don't mind selling you if you get careless. I'll send you to die if it'll help the cartel's bottom line. But I won't get you killed by stupidity or a big dumb weapon for nothing. That ain't me."

He glanced at the ring hanging around her neck. Her hands closed protectively around it. An unreadable expression crossed his face.

"For what it's worth," he said, "I'm sorry about what happened to your husband in Hyjal. But I ain't sorry about anything I've done. So, yeah, I'm a monster. But I watch out for what's mine. When I can.

"And right now, that means hiding this big gun before anyone finds out about it."

Concept artwork for Gallywix shows him as a large and overweight goblin with a tophat. This doesn't match any of the in-game models through , so the model is either a long term placeholder or that a matching model was cut due to time or development constraints.

In an early Cataclysm demo, this character was named Trade Prince Maldy.[citation needed] By the start of Cataclysm's closed beta, Maldy had been renamed to Trade Prince Gallywix. There still is a reference to Gallywix's old name, with the item Maldy's Falcon saying that Maldy was the predecessor to Gallywix as Trade Prince of the Bilgewater Cartel.

Trade Prince Gallywix is the only racial leader to not have an in-game model that is easily seen by most players.

Occasionally, when you click on him, he will say, "Stay outta my Pool." Which is possibly a reference to Carl Brutananadilewski, a character from the show Aqua Teen Hunger Force. He often says the same sentence and has a similar voice.

He may be loosely based on William M. Tweed, better known as "Boss Tweed", a 19 century American official infamous for being extremely corrupt. Satire drawings of Tweed resemble early artwork of Gallywix.